The Walking Whales

The Walking Whales PDF Author: J. G. M. Hans Thewissen
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520305604
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
"A ... first-person account of the discoveries that brought to light the early fossil record of whales. As evidenced in the record, whales evolved from herbivorous forest-dwelling ancestors that resembled tiny deer to carnivorous monsters stalking lakes and rivers and to serpentlike denizens of the coast. Thewissen reports on his discoveries in the wilds of India and Pakistan, weaving a narrative that reveals the day-to-day adventures of fossil collection, enriching it with local flavors from South Asian culture and society"--Dust jacket flap.

The Walking Whales

The Walking Whales PDF Author: J. G. M. Hans Thewissen
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520305604
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book Here

Book Description
"A ... first-person account of the discoveries that brought to light the early fossil record of whales. As evidenced in the record, whales evolved from herbivorous forest-dwelling ancestors that resembled tiny deer to carnivorous monsters stalking lakes and rivers and to serpentlike denizens of the coast. Thewissen reports on his discoveries in the wilds of India and Pakistan, weaving a narrative that reveals the day-to-day adventures of fossil collection, enriching it with local flavors from South Asian culture and society"--Dust jacket flap.

When the Whales Walked

When the Whales Walked PDF Author: Dougal Dixon
Publisher:
ISBN: 1912413957
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 67

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Book Description
When the Whales Walked is an exquisitely illustrated exploration of the most incredible events in evolution, through 13 case studies. Discover a world where whales once walked, crocodiles were warm-blooded, and rhinos ruled the Earth!

At the Water's Edge

At the Water's Edge PDF Author: Carl Zimmer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0684856239
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Everybody Out of the Pond At the Water's Edge will change the way you think about your place in the world. The awesome journey of life's transformation from the first microbes 4 billion years ago to Homo sapiens today is an epic that we are only now beginning to grasp. Magnificent and bizarre, it is the story of how we got here, what we left behind, and what we brought with us. We all know about evolution, but it still seems absurd that our ancestors were fish. Darwin's idea of natural selection was the key to solving generation-to-generation evolution -- microevolution -- but it could only point us toward a complete explanation, still to come, of the engines of macroevolution, the transformation of body shapes across millions of years. Now, drawing on the latest fossil discoveries and breakthrough scientific analysis, Carl Zimmer reveals how macroevolution works. Escorting us along the trail of discovery up to the current dramatic research in paleontology, ecology, genetics, and embryology, Zimmer shows how scientists today are unveiling the secrets of life that biologists struggled with two centuries ago. In this book, you will find a dazzling, brash literary talent and a rigorous scientific sensibility gracefully brought together. Carl Zimmer provides a comprehensive, lucid, and authoritative answer to the mystery of how nature actually made itself.

Walk of the Whales

Walk of the Whales PDF Author: Nick Bland
Publisher: Bright Light
ISBN: 9781760509026
Category : Australian fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
When all of the whales in the ocean leave their home to walk around on land, people don't quite know what to think. But soon shopkeepers go out of business, farms are flooded with water and salt, and people shout horrible, anti-whale words. That is, until, a smart little girl decides to ask the whales what everyone can do to help. A powerful and entertaining story about the environment from best-selling author, Nick Bland.

The Sounding of the Whale

The Sounding of the Whale PDF Author: D. Graham Burnett
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022610057X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 824

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Book Description
Explores how humans' view of whales changed from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, looking at how the sea mammals were once viewed as monsters but evolved into something much gentler and more beautiful.

Fathoms

Fathoms PDF Author: Rebecca Giggs
Publisher: Scribe Publications
ISBN: 1925693422
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION WINNER OF THE NIB LITERARY AWARD FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR NONFICTION HIGHLY COMMENDED IN THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR WRITING ON GLOBAL CONSERVATION A SUNDAY INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘There is a kind of hauntedness in wild animals today: a spectre related to environmental change … Our fear is that the unseen spirits that move in them are ours. Once more, animals are a moral force.’ When Rebecca Giggs encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beach in Australia, she began to wonder how the lives of whales might shed light on the condition of our seas. How do whales experience environmental change? Has our connection to these fabled animals been transformed by technology? What future awaits us, and them? And what does it mean to write about nature in the midst of an ecological crisis? In Fathoms: the world in the whale, Giggs blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore these questions with clarity and hope. In lively, inventive prose, she introduces us to whales so rare they have never been named; she tells us of the astonishing variety found in whale sounds, and of whale ‘pop’ songs that sweep across hemispheres. She takes us into the deeps to discover that one whale’s death can spark a great flourishing of creatures. We travel to Japan to board whaling ships, examine the uncanny charisma of these magnificent mammals, and confront the plastic pollution now pervading their underwater environment. In the spirit of Rachel Carson and John Berger, Fathoms is a work of profound insight and wonder. It marks the arrival of an essential new voice in narrative nonfiction and provides us with a powerful, surprising, and compelling view of some of the most urgent issues of our time.

Whale Boy

Whale Boy PDF Author: Nicola Davies
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1448157013
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Michael, a young boy growing up on the tropical island of Rose Town, has been saving up for his own fishing boat for years. But when a terrible storm wrecks his home, Michael is forced to take a job working for a rich, mysterious newcomer named Spargo. Spargo asks Michael to search for one thing in the deep waters around Rose Town - whales . . .

Return to the Sea

Return to the Sea PDF Author: Annalisa Berta
Publisher:
ISBN: 0520355520
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
The life and evolutionary times of marine mammals, from giant whales and sea cows that originated 55 million years ago whose ancestors walked on land, to deep diving elephant seals and clam-eating walruses of modern times.

Spying on Whales

Spying on Whales PDF Author: Nick Pyenson
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735224587
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
“A palaeontological howdunnit…[Spying on Whales] captures the excitement of…seeking answers to deep questions in cetacean science.” —Nature Called “the best of science writing” (Edward O. Wilson) and named a best book by Popular Science, a dive into the secret lives of whales, from their four-legged past to their perilous present. Whales are among the largest, most intelligent, deepest diving species to have ever lived on our planet. They evolved from land-roaming, dog-sized creatures into animals that move like fish, breathe like us, can grow to 300,000 pounds, live 200 years and travel entire ocean basins. Whales fill us with terror, awe, and affection--yet there is still so much we don't know about them. Why did it take whales over 50 million years to evolve to such big sizes, and how do they eat enough to stay that big? How did their ancestors return from land to the sea--and what can their lives tell us about evolution as a whole? Importantly, in the sweepstakes of human-driven habitat and climate change, will whales survive? Nick Pyenson's research has given us the answers to some of our biggest questions about whales. He takes us deep inside the Smithsonian's unparalleled fossil collections, to frigid Antarctic waters, and to the arid desert in Chile, where scientists race against time to document the largest fossil whale site ever found. Full of rich storytelling and scientific discovery, Spying on Whales spans the ancient past to an uncertain future--all to better understand the most enigmatic creatures on Earth.

The Whale

The Whale PDF Author: Philip Hoare
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061976202
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description
From his childhood fascination with the gigantic Natural History Museum model of a blue whale, to his abiding love of Moby-Dick, to his adult encounters with the living animals in the Atlantic Ocean, the acclaimed writer Philip Hoare has been obsessed with whales. The Whale is his unforgettable and moving attempt to explain why these strange and beautiful animals exert such a powerful hold on our imagination.